Review: Rotel RSX-1560

Rotel has always been one of those little secrets in audio, especially if you don't have a specialist audio dealer in town. Part of the Bowers and Wilkins group, Rotel combines British audio tuning aesthetic with quality Japanese manufacturing tolerances; a dream-team combination in the audio world.

Rotel, like many audio companies that do not traditionally play in the mass market, was a little late to the dance in incorporating HDMI 1.3 specs into their receivers and processors. Operating under the reasoning that they would rather make the change once and get it right, Rotel has succeeded in bringing lossless HDMI audio functionality to their products, while incorporating traditional Rotel performance and build quality that followers have come to expect. In late 2008, Rotel came to market with their renovated 15 Series, models that not only changed the outward appearance of the equipment, but also added Ice Power amplification inside. Utilizing a switching transformer design, Rotel's amplifier stages successfully combine low heat output, high drive capability, and seem to enjoy low impedances. Class D topology appeals to the green crowd due to this high efficiency, and when a manufacturer with a pedigree like Rotel can extract performance as exhibited by the 1560 while keeping energy consumption low, it's an audiophile and Rotel PR dream. Dropping an amplifier stage such as this into an A/V receiver priced around two grand immediately raises the bar for their competitors, and serves to change the perception that some still hold that Class-D amplification is meant only for subwoofer applications.

Let's get what this receiver doesn't do out of the way first, since that's bound to be a hot topic for conversation. The RSX-1560 eschews automatic room correction, and there a couple reasons for this. First, Rotel asserts that automatic room correction possesses as many flaws as it does solutions. Rotel's position is that room correction should be handled by acousticians and calibrators, a position which Rotel's dealers would heartily agree. Rotel insists that the cost involved by including this feature would be counterproductive, a feature best left to receivers sold in mass-market arenas where professional calibrators are undoubtedly absent. One thing about the RSX-1560 that's a little disappointing is that, although the HDMI inputs flawlessly handle DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD codecs from Blu-Ray sources, SACD is not. Rotel insists that the best way to connect (and only, in this case) SACD sources to the unit is via the multichannel analog input bank on the back panel. A small issue, but one has to wonder how expensive or difficult this inclusion would have been. Also, The 1560 doesn't address things like on-screen displays for iPods, or have a glitzy OSD of any type. This is refreshing to many of us that would rather see the price of consumer electronics influenced by performance, not gloss.

Now that the negativity is behind us, we can get to the RSX-1560's strengths, and there are many. A top priority for any updated receiver today is lossless audio performance, and the Rotel comes through in spades. Lossless audio from Blu-Ray is punchy, enveloping, and emotionally involving. Rotel utilizes the high drive, low impedance capability of Ice Power amplification with a silky yet dynamic tone that is never bright, and seemingly always under complete control. CD sound is never strident, even on recordings that traditionally have been such. This isn't to say that the Rotel is somehow coloring or masking things; rather that it isn't adding any harshness to the top end that isn't already there. Torture tests such as the tried-and-true Lenny Kravitz album Are You Gonna Go My Way exhibited this effect, making the CD much more listenable, while retaining the gritty analog effect that's a trademark of the album. On Blu-Ray, Terminator: Salvation was a dynamic powerhouse, with the Rotel exhibiting fantastic control, and allowing my Paradigm Studio 40v.2 speakers to do their best subwoofer impersonation. Despite the abundance of steel, the soundscape was never ear-piercing in any way.

Rotel has again succeeded in making a receiver sound so close to separates as to nearly make the debate moot. Considering that Ice Power amplifiers outboard of a receiver can cost nearly as much as the RSX-1560, Rotel has successfully combined value with performance once again. Additionally, they can legitimately make the claim that with their iteration of Ice Power amplifier technology, they can rock the house without shaking loose the polar ice caps.